Adrian Gonzalez Trade Falls Through

SUNDAY, 5:17pm: The Red Sox still have not given up on pulling off a deal for Gonzalez and there remains a chance that they could do a trade without agreeing to an extension, tweets Heyman.

2:45pm: Odds are that Gonzalez won't wind up with the Red Sox, a source tells Morosi (via Twitter), though the reporter cautions that this could change quickly. Meanwhile, a rival executive told Rosenthal (via Twitter) that the possibility of a deal happening won't die unless the Red Sox turn around and signAdrian Beltre. The third baseman may have lost a suitor this afternoon as it seems that the A's will turn their attention elsewhere.

1:32pm: Boston might be okay with just laying out parameters with Gonzalez and finalizing a deal during Spring Training if the slugger is healthy, says Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).

1:13pm: The BoSox could still make the deal without an extension, provided that the parameters are close, Heyman tweets. Going into overtime may not be an issue as the league understands the significance of the player and the situation, Heyman adds (via Twitter).

1:07pm: As of a couple of minutes before the 1pm CST (2pm EST) deadline, both sides were at a standstill, tweets Alex Speier of WEEI.

12:41pm: Gonzalez's camp doesn't want to discuss an extension unless it happens now, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times. He adds that this could be a sticking point in the talks.

12:29pm: Unsurprisingly, there is a strong sense in the Gonzalez talks that the BoSox won't make the trade unless there is an understanding that a deal can be reached, Buster Olney of ESPN tweets. The negotiating deadline is at 1pm CST.

10:11am: CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam and Dan Hayes of the North County Times provide conflicting updates: McAdam tweets that there's a "good feeling" following talks that continued through the night. On the other hand, Hayes tweets that the two sides are at something of an impasse, and there's a chance the trade won't happen. The negotiating deadline is now less than three hours away.

8:26am: Heyman (Twitter link) hears that teams discussing Gonzalez with the Padres told San Diego they only wanted to talk parameters for an extension because of the slugger's shoulder issue. As Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains, however, the surgically repaired shoulder isn't the only reason it might make sense to postpone an official extension – the Red Sox could save millions in luxury taxes by waiting until the season begins to ink a deal.

Meanwhile, an AL executive tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he thinks Gonzalez is seeking an eight-year contract worth about $160MM. Cafardo suggests that, while the Sox may not go that high, a compromise seems likely. The negotiating window closes in just a few hours, so we should get some resolution soon.

SATURDAY, 10:34pm: The Red Sox suggested a six-year contract at some point during the negotiations according to Heyman (Twitterlinks), but they don't want to do a contract on par with Mark Teixeira's eight year, $180MM pact.

9:26pm:Heyman tweets that the Red Sox might be willing to make the trade without signing Gonzalez to an extension. They might actually prefer to just talk about contract parameters now, then see how his surgically repaired shoulder holds up in Spring Training. In the off chance that the trade does not happen, the Padres would keep Gonzalez and not field offers.

8:41pm: In a pair of tweets, SI.com'sJon Heyman says that the two sides are optimistic about reaching a deal before tomorrow's deadline. He adds that even though Gonzalez, David Ortiz, and J.D. Drew are all left-handed hitters, the Red Sox would not be discouraged from pursuing Carl Crawford, another lefty bat.

7:22pm:Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe reports that the two sides have not yet reached an agreement, but they're still trying. He notes that if they can't work out a contract, the Red Sox could still choose to go forward with the trade if they feel they've made enough progress and are confident they could extend Gonzalez in the future.

5:21pm: With all of the players agreed to and the physical passed, the only thing left before the Adrian Gonzaleztrade can be made official is a new contract. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that the first baseman and his new team won't have very long to negotiate; the deadline is 2pm ET on Sunday.

Well that’s the fun and weird part about negotiating windows. The deal officially dies but there’s nothing that stops them from proposing the deal again to the Pads, them accepting, and getting another window. Also if they’re at 1:59 ET and they’ve got a basic agreement (basic years, total contract is worth, etc) but they just need to hammer out the minor details then they’ll get an extension.

Eh, I just remember it being mentioned during the Santana negotiating window. There was a comment that said there was no stopping the Mets and Twins from trying again and they did get a last minute extension to hammer out details.

If they don’t come to terms, the Red Sox have the option to back out of the deal.

I promise you they won’t back out of the deal, as a matter of fact it would be to their advantage to hold off on an official extension until after the 2011 season starts. That way the AAV of the extension would not impact the 2011 luxury tax payroll.

An extension will get done between now and April, no doubt about it. They will probably settle for a 7-year extension.

There is almost no reason for this extension to not get done. Theo and the Sox front office knew getting involved that they were going to have to pay him. This should be the easiest part of the deal. Get it done!

true, I think he wants the security though. I mean how often do you get to play for the Boston Red Sox? And if it is 5 years, he won’t be signed by the Phillies or Yankees after. The Royals will be good bby they’ll have Hosmer, Braves will have Freeman, some team will have Prince.

All I know is by hook or by crook Adrian Gonzalez’s press conference to announce him in a Red Sox uni will be early next week. Sox want him and can pay, Gonzalez wants a payday and knows the Sox want him and can pay him.

Ryan Howard has averaged over 45 homers a year(58 being his highest). AGon has hit 40 homers once in a year (next highest 36) and averages over 100 k’s a year and so does Ryan Howard. How does AGon deserve more money than Ryan Howard? He doesn’t. You can go ahead and say oh well he didn’t hit that many homers because of where he played. Fact is, you don’t and shouldn’t get paid for something you could potentially do. You get paid for what you have already done and he has not been a better hitter than Ryan Howard.

“How does AGon deserve more money than Ryan Howard?” Because he is better, simple as that. Put Howard in the Grand Canyon called Petco, with the lack of protection that Agon has had, and Howard might average 30 HRs (if he is lucky), and then he still isn’t the defensive 1B that Agon is. How many Gold Gloves for Howard? Gonxalez has 2.

Are you seriously making this argument? Aside from the stated obvious that you have completely different home ball parks there is the whole sense of protection in the Philly lineup that San Diego lacks beyond any quantifiable measure. Not only does Howard hit after utley he hit before Werth. Who the hell hits in front of or behind A-Gon? I have no freaking clue who because it kept changing. There is no GM in the world who wouldn’t put Gonzalez in the same league as Howard.

Also what have we learned from paying people from what they have done? As a Met fan I know this darn well that that is a mistake(see example of Santana, Bay, Castillo, Delgado, K-Rod, Perez…) GMs pay for what that player is EXPECTED to do in the future, AGENTS use what that player has done to negotiate a contract. By your logic we should be paying old Veterans 30+ million a year, see Jeter. Anyway I bet you a healthy A-Gon in a Red Sox Uni will out-stat Ryan Howard any day.

And paying someone for what they potentially could do sounds more logical too right? Lol. Yea okay. You don’t get something that you haven’t earned. I don’t doubt that Adrien Gonzalez has the potential to put up better numbers than Ryan Howard but the fact is, he hasn’t and he doesn’t have the resume to prove it.

Theo time to open up the man purse and pay Adrian what he wants. They Sox have to get this extension done they are too far into it to let it fall through because of money when you have the second highest payroll in baseball. Also, if it fell through the fans would take the bridge Theo mentioned last season strap him and management to it, and burn it to the ground.

No offense to you, more of a general question, but when does quoting “The Hangover” stop being funny?
My unfunny boss refered to a client as “Fat Jesus” the other day, minutes after telling me that he and his wife watched the movie for the first time over the weekend.I mean, I think the thing has gone too mainstream to really be cool enough to quote anymore. Office Space quotes still work because that movie is, and has remained, a cult classic precisely because of the lack of box office success.I guess what I’m trying to say is, all of the one liners are already played out, and you are accelerating the death sentence here.

7/$161 sounds like a bit of a low-ball number. He is worth more, and im sure his camp knows it. He only has 5 full seasons in the majors, and generally hits 30+ homeruns. Any baseball fan would tell you that hitting 30+ homers and playing 81 or 162 games in a park like San Diego’s is no small feat. Get this guy in a Red Sox uni, and in some of the smaller AL parks, and he’ll easily hit 40 or 40+. I would expect to see something in the ballpark of about 7/$180 or 7/$175. Have to wait and see but I cant see any way the Sox dont figure out every bit of this and make it happen. If they have made it to this point, it is a definate, after Texiera, there is no way this deal dies, no way.

Yeah haven’t you heard? We are in one of the worst recessions in recent memory, but Adrian Gonzalez NEEDS 25 million a year or more to live. In all seriousness I agree with you just under 23MM a season sounds more than fair.

Why do I have a feeling that they already have agreed terms to a contract extension. I mean, the Padres agreed to trade to the Red Sox about 30 hours before the trade was even really near being announced. lol

I find this just absolutely surprising that the RS wouldn’t have gotten at least the verbel committment from Gonzales’ agent regarding money before going through all the machinations on this deal. Have to hope that the Sox FO doesn’t get cute with the same act that they tried with the Teixiera deal. The Red Sox have the history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

…they won a World Series less than twelve months later, running over A-Rod to do it on the back of one of the guys who they were supposed to trade for him (Manny). Additionally, the centerpiece (Prospectwise) from that deal is now our ace. On top of that, had the trade gone through, the Sox likely wouldn’t have made the Schilling move. In hindsight, it’s hard to argue that that deal falling through was anything but a godsend to the Sox.

I agree, the Sox don’t want to blow this one, it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is , they have been after this guy for 2 years, and his agent knows that they have alot of money to spend.

That is true, but all I said is examples of this being allowed is the exception, not the rule. Mega-deals typically happen about once every year to 18 months or so, which I just do not think you can say is “often” compared to the number of deals teams make all the time

Dude you have like some of the worst ideas ever.. there are going to be teams after Prince next year..hes not going to want to sign a deal just to be a DH…other teams will pay him enough so he chooses to go to another team. Saying “no one can pay him what the red sox can” is just making us red sox fans look stupid.

first off relax, most of my posts are pipe dreams. i didnt realize i didnt make that clear, i tried to post this thing like 3 times each time before, saying it was a fantasy, the last time i didnt i guess.

second. i actually see the nationals or orioles making a huge push for prince as they dont have any 1bs in their plans. the nationals have vocalized how they like carlos pena and the orioles were “in” on the texiera bidding.

and idc how lefty heavy it would make our line up, crawford makes the lineup, outfield, and team, more dynamic and scary.

nobody says how are we going to pitch to jayson werth. but everyone has to think about how theyre going to have to pitch to crawford and everyone behind him. same with ellsbury

thats what speed does to the game.

ppl get caught up in its flash. especially all the pink hats, but in reality they have a point where it changes games. SBs may not lead to runs directly but they can put you in better positions to score runs.

ellsbury, pedoria, and presumably crawford would be nice table setters for gonzalez and youkilis and ortiz

and i think whoever signs werth will have to watch out for when the full moon hits his beard, he might drop his glove and start howling as he turns into a werewolf

I’m surprised the Pads did this deal, unless the MLB ready prospect coming back is not too much of a downgrade from AGon. But I after letting Garland and Torrelaba walk I started to think that they weren’t going to be as tough this year anyway.

However, AGon and his oppo power should thrive in Fenway. Dude can wrist flip pop-ups over the monster.

If Hoyer does this deal for Kelly, Rizzo, and Fuentes, I’ll wager the Pads lose 90 games plus in both 2011 and 2012 and he’ll be out of work GM-wise by 2013 (a la the rest of Epstein’s former minions).

Probably not. Remember the Padres ownership is accustomed to living on Luxury Tax money. If they lose the 90 games you’re talking about, they qualify for Revenue Sharing cash which they can conveniently put in their pockets. Their excuse is that they cannot afford to pay Gonzales what he’s demanding, so they made the best deal they could. Much like many ‘Small Market’ teams, the Padres are a business first and a baseball team second.

If Hoyer does this deal for Kelly, Rizzo, and Fuentes, I’ll wager the Pads lose 90 games plus in both 2011 and 2012 and he’ll be out of work GM-wise by 2013 (a la the rest of Epstein’s former minions).

I don’t think there’s any way they go through with the trade without an extension in place. The Red Sox don’t like to negotiate midseason and it’s not worth the risk that he walks at the end of the year.

I Wonder where news people get their sources from? Is there like the “Team Snitch” the guy that is all shady looking and stuff and is like “Hey I’ll give you some news if you give me $200.” And their like OKAY! And the goes, “Okay Currently theirs some Funny Looking Mexican dude that the Red Sox Flew in early Friday Morning, and His name was Adrian and that’s all I know okay!” …”Oh and by the way, whatever happens.. you didn’t hear this from me..”

Sometimes these reporters just call front offices and tell receptionists to put them through to the GM of a club. If the GM takes their call the reporters will give infor that they got from other GMs in exchange for breaking news and everything. In moneyball there is a section where Billy Beane lets Gammons know about a trade for a RP that hadn’t gone through yet to scare I think Steve Phillips into making a trade for one of Beane’s RP knowing the guy they were after was traded. It’s a big network. But still most of it is bs.

Sorry to get ahead of myself, but:
Assuming this is done and Werth/Crawford is signed, I get a kick out of the team the Sox could put in 2012 when $50 mil come off the books (Ortiz, Cameron, Scutaro, Papelbon, Wakefield, Varitek) all while needing only to replace a DH, 4th OF, closer, and back-up catcher. They could sign Fielder to DH and it would still not get close to their payroll this year.

God now you have me thinking -.- The free agent class of next year doesn’t really look too sexy though.. I wonder who you would spend it on. Pujols will be signed to an extention. hmmm..*thinks* beats me -.-

I thought this would happen. He wants a big flat rate contract for $20+MM per season and they probably want a discount on the first year or two, which lowers the overall value of the contract. I think they will solve the problem by deferring a portion of the contract.

Off topic, but does anyone else think this deal really really hurts fielder? I mean next offseason what big market team will be looking for a 1b? Lots of teams have already committed to a big first basemen for a long time. Maybe the cubs make a play for him but idk.

All else being equal, not really. If the Sox were considering Fielder their long term plans for him would have been Papi’s replacement. There’s still a possibility the Sox could make an offer to a FA Fielder to DH… doubt it, but stranger things have happened. Though I do agree that the Cubs might make a play for Fielder, maybe even check in at the winter meetings.

If anything I’d change the odds that Pujols stays a Cardinal from 97% to 99%.

No extension sounds scary at first…but my hope is maybe that A-Gon and Boston are comfortable and feel confident that they are close to agreement on the numbers part of it, and Boston would just like to wait until the spring. Now, I wonder what A-Gon thinks about it….but my hope is that everything is still cordial and the postponed extension wouldn’t be because of disagreements, but just caution and postponing of the inevitable.

I’d like to believe that as well but other than Beckett the Sox have had a recent nasty habit of agreeing to push back negotiations and then not extending players they have acquired one way or another.

To the best of my recollection they don’t seem to have too much of a problem signing many of their homegrown players mid-season or in spring training (except for Ellsbury *Boras*). I would just hate for them to not take the full opportunity of the negotiating window and then see that backfire horribly. my .02

But they’ve also been very cautious because of different risks with each player, or because the player is unwilling to budge at all in negotiations. And I think their love for A-Gon, and just pure excitement I would imagine at FINALLY getting their hands on him will prevail. At the very worst they sign him at the end of ST. At the best, and I still think its very possible, they get it done. They’ve still got 14 hours left, so…

I am also hoping for a quick resolution if possible seeing as that would be most beneficial to the sox(as well as making the package to acquire him more worth it to the FO if they manage to sign Adrian quickly). However, seeing as he will most likely not be able to test the shoulder too much early in spring training, I legitimately fear the possibly of this being dragged out even further. That’s when I imagine things start to get real wacky

A former Red Sox exec traded one of the best players in baseball, who also happens to be extremely cheap, for a package of a project pitcher, a LaRoche wannabe, and a 4th outfielder at best, which is worse than the first Swisher trade, possibly only dealt with the Red Sox and didn’t field offers from other teams, and won’t accept offers from other teams if the current deal falls through. If that’s not collusion I don’t know what is.

The trick is: if the extension is signed before the season starts then the AAV of the contract counts towards luxury tax in 2011. If the extension is signed AFTER the season starts then only the $5.5 owed to AGon originially counts towards luxury tax in 2011.Considering that they’re currently about $35 mil under the threshold and the Sox still want to sign an OF, waiting to sign the extension until after the season starts is a savvy way of avoiding paying more luxury tax.

Actually, Gonzo’s current contract is 5 years/15mm (when taking the option into consideration for luxury tax purposes), his AAV is only 3mm/year. This is what the Padres were charged for the first 4 years, and so if the Sox are charged the $5.5mm owed to him, then his AAV will differ from his total contract (12mm + 5.5mm = 17.5mm vs the 15mm contract)

I actually had to email Alex Speier just last week about this and he explained that to me. If the Sox extend after the season starts, his AAV would be $3mm for luxury tax purposes. If the Sox extend to 7 years/140mm, for luxury tax purposes it would be 8 years/143mm, resulting in 17.87mm/year for luxury tax purposes.

It’s basically asking, do you want to take the luxury tax discount now or allocate it through the course of his contract.

Hes scaring us all. But it will be reached, like about 50 people have said in the last couple hours. We knew how much he would want. He has stated it before. Theo is just trying to squeeze a million or 2 less a year than Gonzo wants. And quite frankly, why not? Might as well.

People like to say this group brought us the ’04 title but those were largely Dan Duquette’s players. The Sox always have a high payroll but what prominent big time players has this ownership group signed. I can think of one. Curt Schilling. You have to go back to Manny Ramirez who was signed by Duquette to find another high price guy who’s made a huge impact.

There are plenty of teams who could pony up that kind of prospect cost or better. There aren’t many who could put up the kind of contract the Sox are likely to put up. Some of the alleged big suitors for Gonzo like the Orioles and Blue Jays could make an equivalent deal and not put a dent in their farm. Assuming Hoyer isn’t beholden to the moronic conspiracy theories of tampering floating around this site’s following, that would indicate there wasn’t as long of a line of teams willing to back up the Brinks truck for Gonzalez.

Given, a year in Fenway before hitting free agency could certainly help matters in that department, I don’t see Epstein letting that happen.

That all said, I think that, at this point, a lot of it is back and forth negotiating. If the Sox were willing to offer an inferior player (Teixeira) a veritable mountain of cash and Gonzalez is looking for something in the realm of a Howard-esque deal (More cash, less years), I have trouble seeing where this deal could fall apart outside of the insistance of an out clause relating to the shoulder.

“inferior player (Teixeira) “An inferior player, really? A couple of you need to get a grip over this Gonzalez thing. He’s a damn fine player, but I’d still argue that Teixeira is his equal if not a better player in certain areas. I don’t think you’ll find many others disagree that Tex is arguably the best defensive first base man at this moment, in the game. Otherwise I agree with everything else you said.

Look at their splits sometimes. Teixeira and Gonzalez put up roughly equivelant numbers with Teixeira playing in a hitters’ park and Gonzalez playing in a pitchers’ park. Gonzalez typically hits much better outside Petco while Teixeira typically hits much worse outside of Yankee Stadium. If you switched them, Gonzalez would be blowing Teixeira out of the water.

“• Over the last four seasons, Mark Teixeira has hit .290 with 135 homers, 456 RBI, and an .928 OPS. Gonzalez has hit .284 with 137 homers, 419 RBI, and an .894 OPS.

You tell me who’s the better player. A sizable difference in OPS. Plus like I said, Tex is leaps and bounds a better defensive first base man. In addition Tex has not had any major surgeries, such as Gonzalez shoulder surgery. Plus the Yanks didn’t need to give up 4 prospects to only spend the same amount of money the Sox will need to in order to keep this guy in Boston. Like I said, you’re getting a heck of player, but please get a grip people.

Teixeira, a lefty, plays in a park where Johnny Damon clubbed 17 homers across 81 games in 2009, two more than his career 162 game average. I’m not saying Teixeira is a bad player, but with all things equal, this is a lot like the Hernandez/Sabathia Cy debate: put Teixeira on the Padres and Gonzalez on the Yankees and the gap between their stats would be immensely in favor of Gonzalez. Gonzalez is to Teixeira as Pujols is to Gonzalez.

Let’s take a closer look at the home/away splits shall we? The Petco Park effect is a valid argument. Yankee Stadium is an absolute bandbox. You put Adrian anywhere else than Petco for at least half the season and he will put up Teixeira-like numbers, if not better. To use the relative statistics of your argument, let’s look at each Adrian’s away stats for the past four years:’07: 20 HR 64 RBI .295/.358/.570 .928 OPS’08: 22 HR 70 RBI .308/.368/.578 .946 OPS’09: 28 HR 63 RBI .306/.402/.643 1.045 OPS’10: 20 HR 59 RBI .315/.402/.578 .980 OPS To put it in further perspective, these totals were all in 81 games or less. That’s astonishing. I’m not going to post them, but for an even more convincing comparison, look at Tex’s away splits for the past four years. There’s a humongous difference in his numbers. Yankee Stadium has absolutely inflated his stats. Once A-Gon gets out of San Diego, take the aforementioned away stats and imagine if they were added with numbers that he could put up in a park that actually plays to hitters, or plays to his style (Fenway). It’s scary.Additionally, your other points are way off. Gonzalez’s surgery this offseason was by no means “major”, it was just a minor cleanup of the labrum. Also, Tex is no way “a leaps and bounds” better defensive 1B. Adrian has won two gloves and does challenge Pujols has the best defensive 1B in the NL. He is, at most, a small step behind Tex, but I doubt it.

“The Red Sox suggested a six-year contract at some point during the negotiations according to Heyman (Twitter links), but they don’t want to do a contract on par with Mark Teixeira’s eight year, $180MM pact”.– There it is folks, goodbye Adrian just like it was goodbye Texeira. This is inexcusable. The FO needs to wake up and realize they are a big market team. If they thought the past year was a PR nightmare, wait to see what happens if they ruin this deal.

Heymans tweet says it was suggested, not that Boston was sticking with it. And it’s reasonable for them not to want to go 8 years, because 8 years is a long time. There is still a lot of room for negotiation, and nobody seems to be sticking in their heels just yet.

I think it is more likely that they are discussing things like 6 plus options or 8 with an opt out clause for the Sox after 5 if the shoulder becomes an issue (like the Drew contract) or any number of other options.

I don’t believe anything Jon Heyman says. He has a habit of pretending to get in the middle of Red Sox moves when he actually has no clue what’s going on. Just look at the garbage he was spewing earlier about how the Red Sox won’t be going after Crawford because of too many lefties with Gonzalez, only to completely contradict himself hours later by saying all the lefties would not impact a Crawford signing… He basically posts any and all rumors he hears, even though he never bothers to check the credibility first.

That’s what I feel too….he’s not double-checking his rumors, or sources, and just rushing to post things. This guy from a small-town newspaper who first got the ball rolling has been much calmer with his tweets, and he seems to be more accurate when he posts as well. I just wish Heyman would relax and try to inform people, not barrage us with “news”.

But can you completely discount the front office’s tendency to lowball players and lose out on opportunities for signings? I don’t disagree with you, most of what Heyman says is garbage. He’s a Yankee homer but I’m just asking, doesn’t this seem all to familiar to the Texeira debacle?

Of course they lowballed him.. that’s what you do in negotiations. You don’t start at the top with your initial offers, you start on the lower end and meet somewhere in the middle. Just like the free agents usually ask for way more than they’ll ever get and eventually come down.

Feeling Urge to Complain about this Kase. i mean, not only as a jays fan do i know how frustrating to see a rival make this kind of a deal, but seriously, these guys have kevin youkilis already. it’s just so discouraging to see teams like the yankees and boston do this every year and stack their roster needlessly. plus if i were theo epstien i would probably keep my right handed bats seeing as theres a giant wall built for doubles and homers in right field -_-‘

Sox fan here and it is unfortunate that there is such a discrepancy between the haves and the have nots in baseball. However, we play in the same division with the Yankees and their limitless resources. Adding a hitter, which we needed, is not needlessly adding a player. Youklis started as a third baseman and is a good one.

tbh, i never thought about youk at third. but the fact is it’s still a work to hear about you guys looking signing players werth and crawford and us as a small market team have to sit on our cash while you guys take all the good free agents. but you’re right, sox do need a bat.

It’s not like the Blue Jays haven’t shelled out money for a player, i.e., Vernon Wells. Hasn’t it been known that they do have the resources to make a big splash but decide to not do so? (which I actually respect, high priced FA’s hardly ever pan out for the life of their contract)

Wait, Toronto is no small market team. They have publicly stated that they could have a payroll over 100m if they deemed themselves a contender. AA’s point is that there is not much sense in shelling out big FA contracts until he has established a core with which to contend year after year.

Bottom line is, Adrian Gonzalez didn’t ask to be traded. He is now being negotiating with a team he knows nothing about, in a new league, in a city he knows nothing about, and he is leaving his hometown where his family is. And he is being asked to make a commitment of anywhere from 5 to 8 years. Furthermore, he will be forfeiting free agency next year when he could look into many teams and cities and choose which one he wants to play in. So of course he and his agent are going to ask for a brink’s truck full of money and the Red Sox, knowing what they knew when they acquired him, should be ashamed for dragging this out and making less-than-market value offers.

Have to agree with you. This is the easy part and this is where Theo Epstein doesn’t shine. The hard part was done for him. He didn’t have to “sell” anything to the negotiated team. The Padres knew more about these kids than anyone in baseball. This deal will get done, but you’re right, at 1:19am EST there is no reason why this deal shouldn’t already be done.

He’s already under contract for next season, and the Red Sox like to add options on the end of contracts, so the total number of years and money in these rumors are probably a little inaccurate. Remember how ridiculously confusing the Tulowitzki extension rumors were to figure out?

Fetal position..yes. No glass. I’ve gotten excited about these “moves” in the past only to see them fall though. I remember being ecstatic when we “acquired” A-Rod and yeah I’m glad now it didn’t work out but at the time I was devestated. Same with Texeira

I find that by thinking negatively, positive things are made so much more rewarding! I’m relaxed fellas don’t worry. This is my only outlet to vent. You think my girlfriend or friends or even my dog wants to hear about this crap?

Haha, ok. But there is a difference between maybe cautious optimism and outright negativity. I’m careful about that too; when the players weren’t named yet, I was preparing myself for the Padres to get a king’s ransom from us. Thus, it was great to see it was “only” three prospects. But I didn’t think “its not going to happen, Theo hates us all!” :) I see what you mean, and I do it a lot too. Just saying, it feels kind of harsh to…basically any red sox fan on here who has even cautious optimism towards the deal going through. :)

Another thing worth mentioning is that I haven’t been seeing anything from Boston reporters on the negotiations. Either they’re all extremely lazy, or the Red Sox aren’t talking about anything on their side (which is usually the case with Theo’s negotiations). This probably means any rumors leaked out are coming solely from the agent’s side and will obviously be portrayed as the Red Sox not spending enough money and threats about the deal falling apart.

I won’t. He’s still an i diot. It’s not like anything creative was done with this deal. In fact, the Pads orchestrated the entire thing. And talk about doing this on the fly, it only took two years. Basically the Pads shut down everyone else and served this guy to Theo on a silver plate. I mean come on..

So San Diego pretty much told Theo that the Sox HAD to take Gonzo off their hands? San Diego flew Gonzo to Boston? Please, it takes two to dance. You really like to paint dirty pictures against the Sox don’t you? Sour grapes.

Unfortunetely, this trade probably kills any possibility at Upton. We would completely gut our farm system, something Theo would probably not want to do, in addition to giving up one or both of Bard and Ellsbury. Upton is great but i think the Sox made a choice between going after him and Gonz.

That’s probably true as well, however, Upton seems kind of like an emotionally fragile character. Maybe Towers wanted to motivate him or something but if not, why put it in his mind that he’s expendable?

As irrational as it seems, I still think Towers was never serious about the trade. Oh, he’d have done it if he got the right bid. But the right bid would have been SO insanely high that nobody gave it. He was just trying to see if someone would snag the bait, and give him their whole farm + half their MLB roster. And you’re right, it wasn’t fair to Upton. But to be honest…I doubt Towers even thought of that.

What? No, you missed the point. You’re right his trade value is VERY high. Towers in fact, realizes his value is probably higher than anyone is willing to bid. In his mind anyway. And he’s probably right, a young superstar, with that kind of contract? You don’t just trade that away.

We must give the same contract Miguel Cabrera; 8 yrs/$152.3M. Adrian Gonzalez is young, just 28 years. I think it isn’t bad contract! ….. Now I hope that Boston look to Jayson Werth and two relieve pitcher…………….

agree but it’ll never happen. One thing that I do like about the MLB is that some of the well-played players (I think) give back a lot to the community. Through donations, starting up programs, charity work, etc. Some players know that they’re truly blessed to be payed so darn well to play a game that they love and share some of the goodness with the less fortunate. I really respect players who give back to the people. <— but this can also be said of other major sports as well. Some of these dudes are grateful for their situations, some others are caught up with money and "respect" and forget how lucky they have it.

I wish they could make the contracts not fully guaranteed. Much like the NFL, so if you have a player like Oliver Perez, Milton Bradley, etc., you are not on the hook for the whole duration of the contract if you cut him. All you are obliged to pay is the guaranteed part/signing bonus.

they could “agree” to a contract but not sign It till spring training so it does not effect the luxury tax and they have the money to sign relivers and werth kind of like what they did with josh last year

I see them going the Manny approach, 180 million but the last two years being club options so its a 6 year deal with the potential to be 8, just having one season in Boston and Adrian will make what he made in three years in San Diego.

Cafardo, in the Globe, says that Gonzo is aiming for the Texeira deal: 8/180. I’m saying they settle for 6/138. I’m sure the Sox want to get this done before the Winter meeting in order to adress other ” needs “…

I hope its 6 years at most. Its scares me investing so many years to players. Even if they are a superstar now. Look at A-Rod. He is already declining and still has 7 years left on his deal. NY can afford to eat dead money but Boston can’t

Not sure Gonzo hold out for 8 years. He want to play for a perennial contender and the Fenway fit his swing perfectly. 7 years could be a possibility since the Sox were willing to do it for Texeira.
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The Sox make 300 million a year and they only put 60% back into the team. Some of the owners are worth billions. You don’t put a cap on an actor or a rock singer, so why put one on a player. That is not the american way. The Sox have over 50 million coming off the books in 2012, so I say pay Gonzo 8/180.

So my point is the teams make alot of money, plus some of the teams like the Nationals, Cubs, Braves, Astros, Tigers, Reds,Twins, owners are all worth more than a Billion dollars. If I was worth that and decided to buy a team I would be trying to win by getting the best players.

No, you were insinuating that the Red Sox do not put a lot of revenue back in their team when that is the furthest from the truth. The Yankees, despite popular belief, pocket a larger % of revenue than most teams in the MLB.

No, you were insinuating that the Red Sox do not put a lot of revenue back in their team when that is the furthest from the truth. The Yankees, despite popular belief, pocket a larger % of revenue than most teams in the MLB.

I know, it’s so stupid how some teams don’t just throw money at players without regard to their future…I mean, who cares about the next 8 years anyways? Not like 20-25M will per year will make a difference…/sarcasm

Here’s the difference between your team (Yankees) and the rest of the league: No one wants to pay players past their prime. Every other team tries to avoid “dead” years. If that’s difficult for you to understand, I apologize.

Also, I understand you’re used to your team giving in and overpaying in terms of years/cost….but since when is it a bad thing for a front office to negotiate a contract that works for both the team and the player?

I have no doubt the Sox will get this done. There’s no point in “bashing” either side throughout the negotiation process.

Yea I read a lot of what you write and even though some things I may disagree with I do usually agree with you on a lot of topics. The Red Sox Ownership/Front Office is worrying too much about this “Nickle and Dime” Bull Crap. They aren’t willing to go 8 years 160 Million.. Why Not? He’ll be age 36 or 37. Maybe you may have to pay for 2 subpar seasons, but who cares if the guy brings you a bunch of batting titles and MVP’s and Playoff Appearances and Hopefully a World Series, then wasn’t it worth it? Even though the Manny Relationship ended badly I still feel he was worth absolutely every penny, and I have no reason to believe Adrian Gonzalez won’t be either. I think Adrian could end up being Bigger then Manny or David were ever viewed here, especially at the end of the Contract because you can say he did it without steroids, or “Vitamins” as Ortiz Calls them. If Manny didn’t behave the way that he did, I have no reason to believe Manny to this day wouldn’t still be a Boston Red Sox.

Why pay 8 yrs, 160mil when there’s a chance he will take less? If they really want to take it they can say fine to the 8 yr 160mil contract anytime they want (Cause I doubt anyone will beat that offer).

So just because the Sox didn’t have a deal done in 5 minutes, everyone is ready to jump off the Tobin Bridge? The link by Alex Speier brings up a good point: iron out the specifics now and wait to announce until opening day (like Beckett in 2010). That way, Boston still has flexibility to get Werth or Crawford. Announce the deal now and it counts against Sox luxuary tax calculations. It will get done eventually, but I won’t be surprised if it’s not announced today. Just saying.

Yea well the Red Sox shouldn’t be expecting a newly arrived player to be willing to be like, “oh you want to wait a few months to lock me up? Oh okay that’s great!” The only reason Beckett was probably willing to do it is because hes been on this team for 4 or 5 years and won a world series here, he probably figured “Hey I’ve already been here 4 years been treated great, and they want to pay me to stay for another 4 or 5 years, they must really want me here.” You tell a newly arrived player your not signing him right away doesn’t that kind of make them feel unwanted? Look how it worked out with V Mart and Jason Bay. Am I happy the Bay thing didn’t work out? Sure, but the guy felt pretty unwanted because the Red Sox were acting like idiots.

Totally disagree. This doesn’t mean that the deal isn’t done period. Speculatively speaking of course, they are in fact showing they want him in Boston longterm. First, the Sox traded for him. That shows they want him in Boston. They’re working to sign a deal for long-term security for BOTH SIDES, that point is clear is well, otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about this. So save the unwanted stuff. I would have liked to have both V-Mart and Bay back, but it’s very obvious that the move to get Gonzalez played a role in both. You can’t tell me Theo and company weren’t planning to make this run at Gonzo. Resigning Bay, V-Mart and Beltre would have blocked this move, whether it be lineup related or financially. Also, Sox made a generous offer to keep Bay but there were concerns over his knees remember. Bay’s agent misread the market and tried to bluff to get more money out of Boston and Boston changed directions and went with Lackey. So I blame Bay and his representation on that one. Sox made a good offer to V-Mart but don’t envision him to be a catcher for more years. He jumped for more money and because he didn’t agree with Boston’s plans to DH him. In the end, you have no idea how Bay felt, unless your name is Jason Bay.

Great for the team, sucks for the player. WIll Agonz, who owes the Sox nothing, be willing to risk millions to help the Sox avoid the luxury tax? I mean what’s there to keep the Sox honest and make sure they offer him the same deal later? Effectively, he would be helping them circumvent the rules with no real benefit to himself.

You guys are funny. How is Gonzo risking millions? If the deal is discussed and finalized today, Sox may say “listen, we are willing to commit X years for X money to you…but we want to wait until Spring training to make sure the shoulder is 100% for both our sakes”. That is responsible not only to the Sox but also for Gonzo. And I’m sure Gonzo and Boggs understand. If there was any question to Gonzo’s health, don’t you think they would jump at Boston’s highest offer? Also, Gonzo is due $6M in 2011. Why would Boston want to crank that number up and hurt their chances to address other positions? Why would Boston trade 3 top prospects and then choose to alienate the guy and risk not having him beyond 2011? Seriously.

Because the Sox are taking a hard line in negotiating and if it doesn’t work then they will nix the trade and take their prospects back and return to the “bridge”. Adrian is not going to budge from his demands. He knows what he is worth and his agent knows the market value. If the Sox won’t go 8 years or are trying to save money, then the deal will die. You think Gonzalez wants to delay signing and run the risk of a spring training injury costing him hundreds of millions of dollars? Not a chance.

Theo Epstein should be fired. How do you make a deal like this without knowing how much money it would take to sign him. Gonzalez and his agent had voiced publicly already, weeks ago, that they were looking for Texeria money. The Sox front office is just horrible at negotiating with top tier players. Thanks a lot Theo “Low Ball” Epstein. Lance Berkamn, thats the guy Theo probably wanted.

If this trade falls through, I´m quitting on the Red Sox. This is too much.

Dan Hayes tweeting the word “impasse” and “chance trade won’t happen”. Unbelievable…absolutely unbelievable. Thank you Red Sox front office. You have the second highest payroll in all of baseball and you trade for a player and get exclusive negotiating rights and can’t close the deal. You operate like you are the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is inexcusable

Buster Olney just reported on SC that the deal is discussed and the sides are far apart but there’s good probability to a compromise in the middle and that A-Gon plays 2011 in Boston. I’ll take Buster’s word over some Dan Hayes guy.

Reading some of these comments, I just sit here somewhat speechless. Let’s put aside the typically unreasonable offseason fantasies (like “I say we get Gonzo, Werth, Crawford, Beltre, Downs, AND Upton!!!!111) put forth by Sox fans for a moment.

Isn’t this the trade Sox fans have yearned about for the last two years? But instead of rejoicing it, I’m reading all these comments about how Theo has screwed everything up, yada yada, based on no factual information.

Since we are now 3 hours away from the deadline and all that is coming out are negative reports, I hardly fault anyone for negative comments. This front office regime has cost us numerous players over they years and I hate to say it but if the Yankees were in our current position, the deal would be done by now.

These comments have been going on for a while. The problem is reacting to every Tweet and morsel released with undue impulse and emotion. We simply just don’t know, so it’s rather clumsy to overreact, imo.

Seriously. You guys just robbed the Padres of an perennial MVP candidate. Do you actually think your front office and owners would pull the football away at the last second like Lucy did with Charlie Brown? People would be burning Red Sox hats in the streets if they screwed this up. The Red Sox are trying their typical hometown discount strategy with this guy. He has no allegiance to Boston yet so it’s not working. In the end they’ll pay him gobs of money and that will be that. I think the Boston writers and front office are playing this up for all the drama they can since they know how cathartic the fanbase will be when this is official. Be happy. The Padres turned themselves into an expansion team. You have the best 1b in the division now. Texeira has forgotten how to hit for average and has turned into Giambi pulling everything to the right side when he hits lefty. Gonzalez is a better hitter. The Red Sox know this. They will pay him.

You think John Henry, Lucchino, and Werner care at all what fans think or if they burn hats in the street? They do not. Theo has his orders and although he may not like it, he works for the owners. When Theo made the trade, I’m sure he anticipated being able to pay Adrian what he wanted. I am only speculating but I would bet a substantial amount of money that it is now Henry that is holding up the contract negotiations. Ultimately, the deal will fall through and John Henry will tweet some nonsense about how “MLB has changed” and “we won’t be a factor for Mr. Gonzalez’s services”.

Please. Hardly robbing the Padres. Sox gave up 3 top prospects AND will have to pay Gonzo. San Diego gets good value in return, possibly more now then they would have at the trade deadline and definitely more than letting him walk for 2 picks. Though I feel for the Padres fans about losing a star player, but it’s within the rules as any Yankee fan has said over the years.

They got robbed man. It’s okay. Be happy your team was able to pull this deal off. You don’t have to pretend they gave up anything close to equal value. When the best people can say about Kelly is he’s an excellent fielder to pump him up at this point, it’s obvious this trade was a joke. It’s the Schilling deal part II. You got him for a song. Your GM was connected and astute enough to pull it off. It’s a good thing.

On the flip side the Padres should be contracted. They don’t belong in major league baseball anymore. The M’s got more for a 1/2 season of Lee. The Brewers got more for a 1/2 season of CC. The Yankees gave up more for Granderson.

The SD front office just paid back the guys who gave them their start and I’m quite certain when the dust settles and the prospects don’t pan out they will be out of jobs and back in Boston in the suite with Theo watching Gonzalez win MVP’s.

Please. Hardly robbing the Padres. Sox gave up 3 top prospects AND will have to pay Gonzo. San Diego gets good value in return, possibly more now then they would have at the trade deadline and definitely more than letting him walk for 2 picks. Though I feel for the Padres fans about losing a star player, but it’s within the rules as any Yankee fan has said over the years.

A Gonz is an absolute stud, no doubt about it. That being said, the reality is a Youk at 3rd wtih Gonzalez at 1st won’t out produce the Youk at first and Beltre at 3rd numbers of last year by very much (there will be a slight increase but if Youk would have stayed healhty those numbers will be tough to match). THe reality again is that if Lackey, Beckett and Daiske don’t regain past form, this team isn’t going to the playoffs.

You are absolutely right but I would like the front office to show they have the guts to get this deal done. many, including myself, have lost faith in the GM and ownership group. I know John Henry and Co. don’t care what fans think but they will when the empty seats appear at Fenway. If they won’t go the extra mile to sign A-Gon then it’s time to sell the team and concentrate on your England soccer team John. Good riddance.

Absolutely! And we all know they have the money to get this done. And what bothers me the most is that in the end it`s a few million that`s creating the impasse. Same with Texeria. I really can’t believe they are doing this again. It seem to me that the front office didn´t learn much after losing Tex to the Yankees………2 hours to go =(

It actually will out produce youk/beltre. Ok, nothing is certain but I would bet the farm on it.

Beltre only performs well in contract years and is older then gonzo and I would be he doesnt have quite the year he had this year.

Gonzo will have a MUCH better year, he was putting up numbers comparable to beltre while playing in PETCO! On the road gonzo was averaging 15ab to home run for his career! Keep in mind he is playing in pitcher friendly parks except coors in the nl west!

I would be willing to be any money that gonzo has a higher BA/Home runs/RBI/OPS then belte next year if this deal goes through.

In other words in order for your thing to be the reality you claim it to be gonzo would have to have no production increase from hitting in fenway as opposed to petco which is ridiculous.

People need to chill. this is a negotiation and someone is not being straight with the readers. Either McAdam or Hayes is going to lose a bit of credibility, because both cannot be right. Their need to “tweet” every partial sentence they hear is irresponsible but allowable.

It is the players agent’s job to get as much money and time as they can. It is Theo’s job to get the player whilst paying as close to reasonable as he can. Deals are done in the last thirty minutes, not the first 48 hours. Some agents don’t even negotiate until the last 30 minutes, “see boras”.

My weekend is ruined. Management should have stayed put. Left Gonzo alone in the first place. Just lose VMart and Beltre and go with what we have. Sure, that would have meant no playoffs for the foreseeable future, but heck, as long as we keep making them money, who cares right? But with this ordeal, they have gone over the deep end. It’s too much. My opinion of the the front is at an all time low.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend vacation in Boston. I hope your accomodations were up to standard. Please take these medical reports with you back to San Diego so the Padres can pass them along to other interested teams. Please feel free to visit us anytime if you should ever decide you aren’t quite worth Mark Texeira money. We are very frugal here in Boston and we feel Adam LaRoche or Lyle Overbay are worthy alternatives to you.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend vacation in Boston. I hope your accomodations were up to standard. Please take these medical reports with you back to San Diego so the Padres can pass them along to other interested teams. Please feel free to visit us anytime if you should ever decide you aren’t quite worth Mark Texeira money. We are very frugal here in Boston and we feel Adam LaRoche or Lyle Overbay are worthy alternatives to you.

After seeing the last couple of comments I really don’t feel like scrolling through the last hundred. So here’s my point of view:1) I don’t care what anyone says, I just don’t see anything killing this trade short of actual killings. With or without an extension, Gonzalez will be announced as the new Red Sox first baseman.2) If an extension happens in the next hour it’ll probably be comparable to what Gonzalez would get on the open market.3) If no extension is announced then I’m willing to bet everything I own one will be announced before the all star break.

After reading all these comments, a lot of you Sox fans come off like babies. I’m a Yankees fan, so I remember all the years we were unequivocally the evil empire that had to have every single big ticket free agent and sometimes if we did low ball a guy and lose out on him (rare, but it’s happened) the fans gave the front office an earful. Basically we felt entitled.You Sox fans have turned into Yankee Fans on steroids. Chill out. It’s a trade and sign- A-Gonz isn’t going to simply take whatever they offer because they’re the Sox. I’m sure he’s happy in San Diego. The Sox aren’t just gonna give him whatever he wants, either, otherwise you’d be giving him 7 years/$280 million or something.You’re not entitled and if this falls through it’s nobody’s fault, it just means the two sides couldn’t agree. That’s business. Deal with it.

I’m kind of getting the feeling that Gonzo doesn’t want to sign with the Sox, he may want to wait to become a free agent. Then he can pick the team he wants to play for. You can’t beat the weather on the west coast.

I’m starting to think that Gonzo doesn’t want to go to the Sox. He might want to wait to become a free agent, this way he can pick the team he wants to play for. You really can’t beat the weather on the west coast.

If this deal falls through it would be one of the ultimate daggers in the heart of the RedSox, this deal has been in the making for 2 years and for it to fall through… let’s just say that it’d be worse than the Mariners teasing the Yankees with Cliff Lee.

True, it really would be awful if it does. I can’t imagine how RedSox Nation would react. Theo just needs to sign him to an extension now. There’s very few players who you sign big contracts for. Teix and CC are those, at least for the regular season. And maybe Cliff Lee for the regular season and postseason as well. Adrian Gonzalez is that type of player. Stop messing around Theo.

Good God, Theo. Just go with the extension now. I know you may be up against the luxury tax but maybe you should have thought of that before you tendered a sub par closer for $11mm. You sh!t the bed, now you can sleep in it. Man up and give Gonzo his deal.

bos tried getting him before winter meetings begin so he has leverage over other teams just heard on espn chicago over an hour ago that a surprise team surfaced thats why theres a holdup didnt say what team though

“Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that the Red Sox likely won’t go through with the Adrian Gonzalez trade unless they have an “understanding a contract can get done.”
The deadline for contract extension negotiations is 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, so we’ll know soon whether the two sides were able to come to an agreement. Some other media reports have said that Boston will go through with the trade regardless of the negotiation’s outcome. Stay turned.”

There’s too much inconsistency in the media. People say yes, people say no, people say Ok without extension……too much drama. Makes me very curious where people are getting their sources from. Buster Olney was on ESPN saying they’re close, now he’s singing another tune an hour later. Heymen is all over the place. Boston media sounds hopeful (for obvious reasons), San Diego media more pessimistic (for obvious reasons). Too much garbage.

If you make a trade for this guy, you have to already know what it is going to take to sign him. You have to. They knew what it would take. They make the deal and now want to talk him down from what they already knew he was gonna ask? I am a die hard BoSox fan but this kind of stupidity in other parts of the business world, gets people fired. If Theo/Henry blow this and make total idiots of the fanbase and lead them on like this with the end results being, we don’t get the deal done, I am finished with the BoSox. I am firing them.

Yeah if you know what it’s going to take to sign him prior to making/negotiating the trade, it’s called “tampering”, and it’s kinda illegal.

The Sox had about as much of an idea of what exactly it would take to sign him as anyone on this board, namely, a rough guess. Even reporters who have actual sources have been as far apart as 5/125 to 8/180. That’s a wee bit of a spread.

The White Sox and Paul Konerko are very close to agreeing to a deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter). The slugger and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf are scheduled to meet tomorrow and seem to be nearing a deal that will pay Konerko $13MM per season.

It’s dead people…thanks for all your snarkiness towards my realistic attitude. I was right all along. So call me a child and say I’m just over-dramatic but while your’re saying that always remember I was right and you were wrong. Sell the team John Henry and fire Theo Epstein next. JOKE!!!

This deal is GOING to happen, i’m not even concerned about it anymore, Selig will give Theo as long as he needs to try for this extension, and even if there isn’t an extension. Gonzalez’s camp will agree to discuss a deal during some point in the season.

Why even initiate the trade talks with Hoyer if you’re not willing to pay him?? I don’t understand what the hold up here is. You would think that Theo would at least have all his ducks in a row before he offered the prospects. This is just dumb.

All speculation of course. If the talks went down to the wire, there’s obvious interest on both sides. Of course both side would benefit from a deal now. Gonzo wants security so he doesn’t have to move again next winter if he doesn’t return to Boston. Sox could benefit from a deal now to lock him up. That said, Sox want to wait to see how he is in the Spring time coming off shoulder scope. Gonzo’s side know he could put up a Beltre type season in Fenway (except bigger numbers) and make himself look even more impressive as a FA. Sox should go ahead and do the deal now but include an injury clause ala JD Drew where if Gonzo misses significant time due to injury, Sox can negate part of the deal. That should satisfy all parties. Just a thought.

No deal by 2PM and Gonzo’s camp is saying that unless an extention gets done now, there won’t be one? If so, then the Sox should walk away. If they go ahead with the trade anyway, and Gonzo and his agent try to hold the Sox up for huge $$$$$ during the year, and the Sox don’t cave, then they could lose both Gonzo after this year AND the three kids.

You know, I am shocked that its taking this long. Both sides seem to agree on everything from value to desire to work together. If the only things holding the Sox back are years and luxury tax, it would be a foolish maneuver on their part to let either hold them back. A-Gon is one of few players I’m ok with signing to a Manny-esque contract. 8/161, make him the highest paid player in Red Sox history and lets get this over with! Its rare I’d prefer to give a player years then dollars, but just look at hittracker online. Most of this guys home runs in 2010 were between 390-440 ft. He’s not going anywhere. I haven’t seen anyone besides Pujols and Hamilton connect so cleanly with a baseball when I look at current players. Can you imagine now that pitchers will actually have to put the ball over the plate?

Again just speculation, but I bet the Sox are willing to do the deal and money, just they want to see how Gonzo is in spring training. He can’t swing a bat until March 1, and although he should make a full recovery (remember this isn’t a total repair) I’d be a little hesitant about laying out $160M+ as well. I bet they do the deal and try to work something out to benefit both sides.

Joel Sherman’s tweet says the same. Might be the 1st time I agree with him haha

He probably wasn’t willing to sign one of those completely insane extensions like youkilis and pedroia did. If he’s healthy in 2010 he’ll get what he wants from someone else, and this time it will be a bidding war like tex got.

I’m not so sure man, there are teams that aren’t regarded as big market that occasionally whip out the checkbook for the right players. I think agon can be one of them, the guy is relatively young and a complete beast in a pitcher’s park.

He probably wasn’t willing to sign one of those completely insane extensions like youkilis and pedroia did. If he’s healthy in 2010 he’ll get what he wants from someone else, and this time it will be a bidding war like tex got.

I don’t think Yanks are ungrateful anymore. We were. But with Jeter, Posada and Mo aging out of their playing years, Tex having a subpar season, 2/3’s of Giambi’s contract being a bust with zero WS titles to show for it, Randy Johnson’s time in NY a bust, etc. I think we’ve learned some humility, even with the title from ’09.

Honestly I kind of agree. I’ve been trying to avoid reading these comments as the trade started to fall through, partly for some rude yankees comments, but MOSTLY because so many Boston fans have become extremely conceited. It’s kind of sad for me to admit but lately….Yankees fans have had a bit more class than the majority of Boston fans.

It’s not Theo at this point. It’s ownership. They’ve been so concerned about making money and diversifying, they’ve overlooked the issues in front of them.

The Red Sox are NOT the same team they were 5 years ago. They have obvious holes in the lineup and they cannot fill those holes with the players in AAA/AA because they are either overrated (Anderson) or not ready.

Ownership isn’t going to make these types of commitments when all of these drunk coeds fill the stands each and every game. They don’t see the point – they can fill holes with random pickups (Cameron) and rake in the money.

Pathetic and cruel to put your loyal fans through this BS. How idiotic can a G.M. and owner be to do this? Good luck spinning this one Theo. Good luck on selling any signing after this, nothing will make up for this, nothing.

Stupid move on Gonzalez’s part. Last thing you’d want is for the Sox to move on to Fielder and have a major market dry up. Its not like every team can afford a 20 million dollar player, and a lot of the big market teams have already filled their 1B slots.

This is fantastic! Boston have been licking their chops for Gonzalez for years and I guess they just assumed he would play for them for nothing other than privileged of playing for classic Red Sox franchise so they tried to low ball him. This entire deal was way too public and the Red Sox hand being shown is going to make any trades difficult going forward since the rest of the league now knows that Kelly is available.

This is fantastic! Boston have been licking their chops for Gonzalez for years and I guess they just assumed he would play for them for nothing other than privileged of playing for classic Red Sox franchise so they tried to low ball him. This entire deal was way too public and the Red Sox hand being shown is going to make any trades difficult going forward since the rest of the league now knows that Kelly is available.

I was referring to the extension that Theo and Co. bungled. They had to have a pretty good idea of what he was going to want in order to sign an extension and it was completely up to Boston to come up with it. Gonzalez had no reason to waver from exactly what he wanted. So once again, Boston blows a big negotiation by trying to shortchange a player in $$ or years. Theo is not a deal closer.

This is pathertic. The Sox had to konw going in what the parameters were. If they can’t give that kind of money then don’t even go there. Philadelphia, Yankees found a way to make the deals and the Sox can’t. Pathetic.

This is pathertic. The Sox had to konw going in what the parameters were. If they can’t give that kind of money then don’t even go there. Philadelphia, Yankees found a way to make the deals and the Sox can’t. Pathetic.